Dalek Novelisation
by Josman
Summary: Deep underground in the Utah Desert, one of The Doctor's oldest foes is lying in wait. Threatening the lives of everyone in the world should it break out.
1. The Alien Museum

**Author's notes: This upload was delayed by university work. But I'm back on track now, especially since I love this story. Series 1 is probably the scariest the Daleks have ever felt.**

**Disclaimer: My run of not owning Doctor Who continues unabated.**

* * *

**Dalek:**

_And since this episode is called "Dalek", I think we may be dealing with... The Ice Wariors!_ - MrTARDISreviews.

**Chapter 1: The Alien Museum:**

The time travellers peered out of the TARDIS doors. The room they'd materialised in was pitch dark, with the only light coming from their ship. The Doctor spotted a light in the gloom and began feeling around for a switch.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Said Rose.

"Some sort of distress signal, drew us off course." The Doctor replied.

"So, where are we?"

"Earth, Utah desert. About half a mile underground."

"And... when are we." She was just getting used to this way of talking.

"2012."

"Gosh." Said Rose. "That's so close. I'd've been about 26."

The Doctor found a switch and flicked it, illuminating the room. They found themselves stood in a massive hall, with painted concrete walls. All around the place, glass cased were arranged in neat rows.

"We must be in some sort of museum." Said Rose."

"An alien museum." Said The Doctor.

Every case was filled with escape pods, fragments of spaceships, lasers and strange blue-glowing, devices as well as a lot of things Rose couldn't identify.

"Someone's got a hobby." Said The Doctor, walking along the aisle. "They must've spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite. Moon dust... That's the milometer from the Roswell Spaceship!"

"That's a Slitheen's arm!" Cried Rose, pointing at another case. "Someone's stuffed it."

But The Doctor was looking at something opposite. "Ah, look at you."

The case contained a steel head with blank circular eyes and a slit for the mouth. It also had grab handles on the sides.

"What is it?" Said Rose.

"Old friend of mine. Well enemy, more like. The stuff of nightmares reduced to a museum piece. I must be getting old."

"Is that where the signal's coming from?"

The Doctor looked at the trail of wires beneath the head. "Nah, its stone dead. The signal's coming from elsewhere."

What the time travellers didn't realise was that they'd triggered the museum's motion detectors the moment they stepped out of the TARDIS. Guards had been gathering at all the entrances. They chose this moment to leap into action. Rushing in and forming a blockade at either end of the aisle, pointing assault rifles at the intruders.

"If they're collecting aliens, that makes you exhibit A." Rose muttered.

* * *

It was another day at the office for Adam Mitchell. Though, he had one of the best jobs in the world, it didn't make living on the remote base any easier. It was true what they said, any task becomes much less fun once it's your job, even if your job is examining alien artefacts.

_"Bad Wolf One descending."_ Said a voice on a speaker. Oh bugger, he was here already, and he'd expected another couple of hours to prepare to meet him. Adam grabbed what he could and ran from the lab.

Up by the entrance, Holister, head of operations, was in a similar rush, preparing a greeting for the man who practically ran the world.

The guards stood to attention as Henry Van Statten stepped through the entrance to the bunker. He didn't even nod to them, he just strolled by.

"On behalf of everyone here, I wish you a very happy birthday." Said the Holister, rushing to keep up. "The President sent his personal congratulations."

"The President is ten points down." Said Van Statten. "I want him replaced."

Holister paused. "With respect sir, I'm not sure that's wise."

"Thank you for your opinion, you're fired." Van Statten shrugged. Not even looking back as a couple of guards dragged the protesting man away. "Put him by the road near Memphis, Mineanapolis. Somewhere beginning with M."

Realising she was now the most senior person at the base, Diana rushed forward to take her former colleague's place.

"So, the next President." Van Statten said without looking at her. "What do you think. Democrat or Republican?"

"Democrat, I think." She replied.

Van Statten stopped for the first time. "And why."

"Er... Because they're so funny sir." She said nervously.

"What's your name."

"Goddard sir. Diana Goddard."

"I like you Diana Goddard." He grinned and strolled onwards. "So, where's the British kid?"

Adam quickly pushed his way through the guards. "I've bought ten more artefacts at auction sir."

"Bring 'em along. Let me have a look."

"With respect sir," said Goddard, "there's something more urgent. We found intruders, ten floors down. We don't know who they are or how they got in..."

"I'll tell you how they got in, in t'rough da window." He waited a moment. "That was funny."

The guards hurriedly forced a laugh.

Satisfied, Van Statten continued. "Bring them to my office too. And tell Symonds I want to visit my little pet."

Goddard stepped to one side and put her finger to her earpiece. "Symonds, you'd better give me good news. Is it talking?"

Symonds switched off the device he'd been using on the creature. It had taken him a long time to fathom how exactly you torture something made of metal but a couple of days ago, he'd discovered that the creature was wired up to feel pain if any part of its armour was damaged. He'd therefore spent much of the week drilling tiny holes an eighth of an inch deep. He wasn't sure what difference it was making but it was better than just leaving it.

"Not exactly talking." He said.

"Then what is it doing?" Said Goddard.

"Screaming."

He drilled the creature again. An agonized mechanical scream filled the room.

* * *

The Doctor and Rose were led to Van Statten's office, where they found a ufology graduate handing a weird dorsal shaped-object to his boss.

"And this is the last piece, sir." Adam was saying.

"What does it do?" The American asked.

"Well, I haven't had much of a chance to examine it yet sir. But, there's these tubes on the side so I think it may have been used to channel something. Possibly fuel..."

"I wouldn't hold it like that if I were you." The Doctor interrupted.

"What, is it dangerous?" Said Van Statten.

"No, just looks silly. If I may?" He leaned over the desk.

Several security guards cocked their guns but Van Statten held up a finger to calm them and handed the intruder the device.

The Doctor laid the device in the palm of his hand and gently ran his fingers along one of the ridges. A sweet whistling hum emitted from the holes, which rose and fell as The Doctor altered his finger movements over the surface.

"It's a musical instrument." Van Statten grinned. "May I?"

The Doctor handed it back. "It may not work as well." He said. "It requires gentle touch."

Sure enough, Van Statten's first attempt produced the same squeaking tones a child learnig to play violin might produce. But he was a clever man and it took him about a minute of trial and error to produce his first few, stuttering notes.

"Very good." Said The Doctor. "You're quite the expert."

"As are you." Said Van Statten, tossing the instrument aside. "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm The Doctor. And who are you?"

"Like you don't know. We're deep underground, hidden away with the most valuable collection of alien artefacts in the world and you just happen to stumble in?"

"Pretty much sums me up."

"The question is, how exactly did you get in? 53 doors down and you get in with your little cat burglar accomplice. Quite a collector yourself. She's quite pretty."

"She's gona smack you in a minute if you keep calling her "she"." Rose spoke for the first time.

"She's English too! Hey Spotted Dick, you've got yourself a new playmate."

He nodded over at Adam, who thought he should say something constructive at this point.

"This is Henry Van Statten."

"And who's he when he's at home?" Said Rose.

"Mr Van Statten owns the internet." Said Adam.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Don't be stupid. No-one owns the internet."

"And let's just keep telling the whole world that kids." Van Statten grinned.

"So you claim to be an expert in everything except the things in your museum?" Said The Doctor.

"And what makes you claim greater knowledge." Van Statten replied.

"I don't need to say I'm great, I know how good I am."

"And yet I captured you. Right by the cage. What were you doing down there Doctor?"

"You tell me."

"The cage contains my one live specimen."

"What's that?"

"Like you don't know."

"Show me."

"Want to see it?"

Rose was watching their word tennis with mild amusement. "Blimey, you can smell the testosterone here." She muttered.

"Goddard." Said Van Statten. "Contact the cage. Inform them we're heading down. English, look after the girl, go and, condole, or spoon or whatever it is you British do. Doctor. You're coming with me."

* * *

53 floors down, there was an operations room. All sorts of survey equipment was strewn around , though getting little use. Ahead of them, one man was stepping out of the cage, pulling off his bio suit.

"We've tried everything." Said Van Statten. "The creature has shielded itself off. But there's definite signs of life inside."

"Inside what?" Said The Doctor.

Before Statton could respond, Symonds interrupted him "I've had to take the power down." He said. "The Metaltron is resting."

"Metaltron?" Said The Doctor, who'd never heard of such a race.

"Thought of it myself. Neat huh?" Said Van Statten.

Symonds offered The Doctor some gloves. "You might wanna take these. The last guy who touched it... Burst into flames."

"I won't touch it then." The Doctor shrugged.

Goddard and the guards chuckled.

"In ya go then Doctor." Said Van Statten, pulling a reinforced door open. "Impress me."

The Doctor stepped through into a darkened room and heard the door shut behind him.

"Keep that door shut until we get results." Van Statten instructed some operatives at a computer bank on the far wall, Symonds was directing someone in reactivating the lights.

In the gloom, The Doctor spotted a collection of drills and cattle prods, laid out on a table, He could also see an electrical transformer in the corner, with wires running towards the creature. Clearly, they were using an unbelievable electrical charge to torture the poor creature.

He looked over to the only light source in the room, a small blue light, which he assumed was where the creature would be.

"Look, I'm sorry about this." He said gently. "Mr Van Statten may think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help. I'm The Doctor."

"DOCTOR?" Said an all too familiar voice. Two white lights lit up on either side of the blue.

"Impossible." The Doctor gasped.

"THE DOCTOR!"

How many times must he have heard that voice screaming his name before? How many times more in his nightmares?

The lights came on in the room at last. Right there, before him was a member of his deadliest foes. One he thought he'd seen the last of. A Dalek.

"EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR! EXTERMINATE!" Screamed the Dalek.

Suddenly consumed by panic, The Doctor spun round and hammered on the locked door, screaming "Let me out!"

"Sir, It's gonna kill him!" Goddard protested.

"Quiet!" Shouted Van Statten. "It's talking!"

"YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS! YOU MUST BE DESTROYED!" The Dalek chanted.

The Doctor had given up on the door. Even if they did open it, they wouldn't be quick enough to save him. He backed into the wall trembling.

Even in its battered and bent state, even covered in chains, the Dalek was still straining to get at him. With a great effort, it pointed its gun in his direction... and nothing happened.

An ecstatic grin suddenly covered The Doctor's face. "Doesn't work!" He cried. "Fantastic!" He laughed manically from the mix of fear and delight. "Powerless! Look at you, the great space dustbin. How does it feel?"

He charged forward to stare it down the eyestalk. The Dalek now strained on its chains to get away from him.

"KEEP BACK." It shouted.

"Or what? What for? What're you gonna do to me?" The Doctor shouted. He was taking an incredible amount of pleasure from this situation. "If you can't kill then what are you good for, Dalek! You're nothing!" As he spoke, he circled the Dalek threateningly. "What're you here for?"

"I AM WAITING FOR ORDERS."

"What's that mean?"

"I AM A SOLDIER, I WAS BRED TO RECIEVE ORDERS."

"Well you're not gonna get any. Not ever."

"I DEMAND ORDERS."

"They're never gonna come! Your race is dead. You burned, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second!"

On the far side of the wall, Van Statten, Goddard and Symonds were watching security footage of their conversation, with increasing amazement.

"YOU LIE!" Roared The Dalek.

"I was there. I watched it happen. I made it happen!" The Doctor roared back.

"YOU DESTROYED US!"

The Doctor suddenly lost all the elation he'd felt a minute before. He stepped away and went to face the shadows for a moment. "I had no choice."

"AND WHAT OF THE TIME LORDS?"

"They burned with you. End of the last great time war. Everyone lost."

"AND THE COWARD SURVIVED."

The Doctor now felt a renewed sense of glee. "Oh, and I caught your little signal. "Help me I'm in trouble." Poor little thing." He taunted. "But there's no one else coming 'cos there's no-one else left."

"I AM ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE." The Dalek said, its eyestalk drooping.

"Yep." The Doctor smiled.

"SO ARE YOU. WE ARE THE SAME."

The Doctor stopped smiling and charged forward to stare it down again. "We're not the same! I'm not..." He began, but paused. "No, wait, maybe we are. You've got a point. 'cos I know what to do! I know what should happen! I know what you deserve! Exterminate!"

He rushed over to the transformer and turned all the dials to maximum., before throwing a switch to send millions of volts coursing through the Dalek's armour.

The Dalek screamed in pain. "HAVE PITY!"

"Just like you did with my people? Of the Thaals? Or Sara? No, you get what you deserve."

He reached over to flip another switch but was promptly dragged away as guards burst into the room.

"You've got to destroy it!" He roared as Van Statton marched in, and the guards dragged him out. Symonds rushed to shut down the equipment.

"I saved your life now talk to me! Talk to me!" Statten shouted at the creature, but it had fallen silent once more. "The last of your kind." He leered over the eyestalk. "And now I know your name. Dar-lek... Speak to me Dalek. I am Henry Van Statten, now recognise me!"

The creature didn't even twitch.

"Make it talk again, Symonds, whatever it takes." Said Van Statten. Symonds seemed positively delighted by that prospect. "In the meantime, I've got an alien of my own to interrogate." He peered round the door at The Doctor, still struggling to get at the Dalek.


	2. Exterminate!

**Chapter 2: Exterminate!**

"Sorry about the mess." Adam said, as he showed Rose into his workshop. "Mr Van Statten lets me do my own thing mostly.

Rose wasn't too bothered. Most of the people she knew, her mother included, would keep their homes in a perpetual disarray. Hurriedly clearing up once they discovered that somebody was coming round. The fact that Adam left equipment lying around wherever there was space to put something down just showed that he was informal and would be more reasonable than others at the base.

The technician grabbed something off one of the tables. "What do you think that is?"

Rose turned the device over in her hands, before handing it back. It was roughly angular, with support ridges lining the inner edges and tear marks where it had broken free of something. But this meant nothing to the girl from the council estate. "Bit of metal?" She offered.

Adam frowned. "Well... Yeah... But, um. I think, I'm fairly certain, that it's from the Hova Spacecraft. You see, all that stuff the United Nations keeps quiet, aliens, spaceships and such. It all really exists!"

"Wow." Rose feigned amazement.

"I know it sounds amazing, but I'm convinced that the whole universe is teeming with life."

"I'm gobsmacked, yeah." Said Rose. "And you do what? Sit here and catalogue it?"

"Best job in the world." He smiled.

"But imagine if you could get out there, see the stars for real."

A faraway look crossed the man's face, but he quickly shook it off. "Not gona happen. Not in our lifetime."

"What about all those people who've been inside spaceships, talked to aliens?"

"I think they're nutters."

"Yeah." Rose laughed. "So... Yow'd you end up here?

"Van Statton has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "And you're a genius then?"

"Sorry. I can't help it, I was born that way." Adam smiled. "When I was eight, I hacked into the US defence network, nearly caused world war 3!"

"And that's good is it?"

"Well, you should've been there. Just to see them running about. Fantastic!"

"You sound like The Doctor."

"Are you and him..."

"No." She said quickly.

"Good."

"Why's that good?"

"It just is."

Rose decided to change the subject. "Wouldn't you rather be downstairs? I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mr Van Statton's got a living creature down there."

Adam nodded. "Yeah, I did ask but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch into the coms system. It doesn't do much though. Just sort of sits there. It's like some useless giant pepper pot."

He opened something on his laptop. The screen was promptly filled with the CCTV footage of the cage. Rose watched as a man in a bio suit picked up a very large drill and strode over to the Dalek. The moment he switched it on, agonized metallic screams sounded through the speakers.

"They're torturing it!" Shouted Rose. "Where's The Doctor?"

"I don't know." Adam replied.

"Well, get me down there now."

* * *

_The device was ready. He was stood there with his finger on the button. The smallest pressure of his hand, enough to depress it by a centimetre, and this whole war would be over. The universe would be safe. But at what cost?_

The Doctor tried not to dwell on that memory. Up till now, his only comfort was that he'd succeeded in his aim and a terrible threat had been removed from the universe. But now, if he couldn't convince Van Statten to destroy the creature, everything he'd sacrificed would be for nothing.

"The metal's just battle armour." The Doctor was explaining. "The real Dalek creature's inside."

"What's it look like?" Said Van Statton. To The Doctor's continued frustration, he was still failing to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

"A nightmare." He replied. "An abomination. The Daleks were genetically engineered, they had all emotions removed except hate."

"Genetically engineered? By whom?"

"A genius, Van Statton. By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd've liked him."

"The Dalek's been on Earth for 50 years." Said Goddard. "Moving from collection to collection. Why's it a threat now."

"Because I'm here." Said The Doctor. "How'd it get to Earth in the first place?"

"Records say, it fell from the sky. Formed a crater in the Ascension Islands." Goddard replied. "It burned for three days before anyone could get near it, and all the while, it was screaming. It must have gone insane."

For a moment, The Doctor felt a stab of pity, but it passed. "It must've fallen through time. The last survivor."

"You spoke about a war?"

"The time war. The last war between my people and the Daleks. We were both wiped out"

"But you survived." Said Van Statten.

"Not by choice."

"Which means there's more that one alien on Earth, Doctor. The last of your kind, just like the Dalek."

Two guards levelled their guns at him.

* * *

The Doctor found himself hung up on a steel table, at 80 degrees. His hands shackled above his head.

Across the room, Van Statten was switching on a series of spotlights.

"Smile." Grinned the American, as he activated a lazer-like device, which shone a red light over the upper half of The Doctor's torso. It didn't do any real damage, but the feeling was agonising as it swept downwards.

The scan complete, Van Statten looked at the 3d model it produced of The Doctor's insides.

"Two hearts!" He cried. "Binary vascular system! Oh, I am so going to patent this!"

"So that's your secret." Said The Doctor. "You grab this stuff and use it for your own gain."

"This stuff's been falling to Earth for hundreds of years." Van Statten grinned. "It just needed the right man to know what to do with it. Broadband? Roswell! Just last year, we analysed the data from the Russian crater. Do you know what we found? The cure for the common cold! Kept it in the lab of course. Why sell one cure when we can sell a thousand palliatives?"

"Do you know what a Dalek is Van Statten?" Said The Doctor. For the first time, he saw a hint of concern cross the man's face. "It's honest. It does what it was bred to do, for the survival of its species. That creature in the dungeon is better than you."

Van Statten shrugged. "In that case, I will be true to myself, and continue."

"Listen to me!" The Doctor screamed. "That thing downstairs is gonna kill every last one of us!"

"Nothing can escape the cage." Van Statten ran the scanner again, to get a clearer image.

The Doctor screamed in agony. Once it was done he shouted. "But it's woken up. It knows I'm here. No-one on this base is safe. No-one on this plannet!"

Van Statten decided to run the scanner again. Just because he felt like it.

* * *

Adam strode nonchalantly past the half-a-dozen or so guards grouped around the cage. The moment a guard made to approach him, he waved his ID vaguely at him. "Level three clearance. Special order of Mr Van Statten."

The guards shrugged and let him pass. Fortunately, the door was open, as Symonds was on his way to get a new device.

"Don't get too close." He said to Rose.

Rose stepped up to the creature. Its eyestalk, arm and gun were all drooping low and it looked very sad.

"Are you in pain?" She said. "I've got a friend called The Doctor. He can help. My name's Rose, what's yours?"

"YES." The Dalek said after a while, in a voice much more strained than the one it had spoken to The Doctor with.

"What?" Said Rose.

"I, AM, IN PAIN. THEY TORTURED ME... AND YET THEY FEAR ME. DO YOU FEAR ME?"

"No." Rose said. As far as she was concerned, the Dalek looked positively tragic.

"I AM DYING." It said.

"No, we can help."

"I WELCOME DEATH. BUT... I AM GLAD THAT BEFORE I DIE. I HAVE MET A HUMAN THAT WAS NOT AFRAID."

"Isn't there anything I can do?"

"MY RACE IS... DEAD. I WILL DIE ALONE."

Rose reached out to put a comforting hand on its dome. Realising, Adam rushed forward to stop her, but too late. The moment she touched its armour, Rose felt a burning sensation in her hand. She yanked it back and saw a handprint stamped on the Dalek, which promptly faded.

"GENETIC MATERIAL EXTRACTED, BEGINING CELULAR RECONSTRUCTION!" It roared.

With its strength renewed. It flung itself forwards, stretching the links on its chains. It threw itself backwards, straining them again. It charged forward once more and the chains snapped.

At this point, Symonds came in. "What have you done!" He shouted.

The Dalek turned to face him. It's gun being inoperative, it raised the sucker arm to him.

"What're you gonna do? Sucker me to death?" Symonds snarled.

Quick as anything, the arm shot out and sealed itself over his face. The man tried to pull it free, but the suction power was phenomenal, Symonds felt like it was trying to suck his face off.

Rose and Adam promptly fled.

"Code red!" Shouted a guard captain. "I repeat, code red. This is not a drill. The inmate is escaping."

* * *

From his own cell, The Doctor looked up. "Release me if you want to live."

* * *

There had followed a mad rush for Van Statten's control room. The Doctor was just pulling on his jacket when they got there.

"What happened?" He shouted at the guard captain on a video link.

"It, sort of, did something when I put my hand on it." Said Rose. "Sorry."

"I've sealed it in." Said the captain. "It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations!"

"The Dalek's a genius." The Doctor said. "It can calculate a trillion combinations in one second flat!"

"Look!" Shouted a guard.

The digital readout on the key code was filling in. Three digits were already entered, and they were correct. two more flashed up a second later. They looked to the security screen to see the Dalek poised with its sucker over the lock, scanning the device for the correct codes.

"Cover the door!" Roared the captain. He watched as the last few digits filled in and the door swung open. "Open fire!"

"The guards blasted away. Their bullets bounced off the armour casing, denting it but not breaking it.

"Don't shoot it, I want it unharmed!" Cried Van Statten.

Either the guards didn't hear or they chose to ignore him.

"Rose, get out of there." Cried The Doctor.

"Demagio, take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job, got that?"

"You two, with me!" Demagio shouted and led Rose and Adam away.

The Dalek ignored the gunfire and turned its attention to the nearest computer terminal. The control system was too primitive, relying on buttons and switches and a readout on a screen. Instead, it smashed open the front of the server and interfaced with the circuits directly.

The effort of doing so was agonising for it, but it was conditioned to ignore pain. Instead, it focused on channelling the sudden surge of power to its auto-repair systems. The guards watched in alarm as all the dents and holes in its armour filled out, entire panels twisted into shape until it looked brand new.

"We're abandoning the cage sir." The captain said into his radio.

Goddard was alarmed by the image on the screen. "We're losing power. The Dalek's draining everything we have... It's draining the whole of Utah... The whole west coast!"

"That Dalek just downloaded the internet." Said The Doctor. "It knows everything."

The Dalek's task completed, it glided away from the ruined computer.

"THE DALEKS SURVIVE IN ME!" It roared, taking a series of shots at some oxygen cylinders on the wall to test its newly repaired gun.

* * *

Goddard was furiously fiddling with the computer. With only emergency power, they had no footage of the vault. The only way they could track the Dalek's progress was to bring up a 3d schematic of the base and watch a dot, representing the Dalek drifting through.

"You've got to kill it now!" The Doctor was shouting.

"All guards to converge on the Metaltron cage!" She said into the tannoy.

* * *

In a corridor, not far from the cage, another group of guards were gathering to form a block.

Demagio came running through with Rose and Adam. She was quickly followed by the captain. "You three, in there, wait for it to pass!" He shouted. "Cover the north wall!" He roared at the guards up ahead. Red division, maintain surprising fire along the perimeter. Yellow-" But that was all he had time to say, as at that moment, the Dalek rounded the corner. It instantly identified him as the most authoritative man in the room and shot him.

The whole corridor lit up in an incredible flash of negative light. So intense was the glare, that the guards could see the captain's skeleton through his skin, before he fell down, dead.

With no need for further orders, they opened fire. Sadly, you don't survive a time war without installing every upgrade under several suns to your armour. The Dalek was surrounded by a field which neutralised inertia, their bullets stopped dead before they could get within a foot of the armour, even if they could have punctured it in the first place.

The Dalek paused for a moment to square up its targets. The It took aim at the first and shot him, once more lighting up the corridor and dazzling its opponents for a few moments.

It then resumed moving, taking out guards as it went. Every time it fired, another would fall.

Behind it, the guards who'd been with the captain emerged from their hiding place and attempted to sneak up and get close to it. But they had to rush to catch it and the Dalek heard. It paused as it swivelled its dome around to scan these new guards and memorise their position.

At the same time, it swivelled it midsection around, like a tank turret, to point the gun in their direction and shot down another one.

It continued forward. Constantly swivelling its gun round to shoot whichever opponent was nearest. In front or behind.

* * *

In the office, Van Statten could hear the gunfire echoing through the radio. "Tell them to stop shooting at it!" He roared.

"But it's killing them!" Shouted Goddard.

"They're expendable, the Dalek is unique! All guards cease fire! I don't want a scratch on it, you hear me?" No response came. "Do you hear me?"

There was silence. Even the sound of gunfire was gone. The Dalek had won its fight in less than thirty seconds.


	3. Adventures in the Third Dimension

**Chapter 3: Adventures in the Third Dimension**

"We need to keep it alive." Said Van Statten. "We could close the main bulkhead, seal it inside."

"Rose is still down there." Said The Doctor. "I won't let that happen. There must be more advanced weapons in the museum."

"Yes, but the Dalek is between us and them." Said Goddard.

Disappointed, the Doctor clicked and dragged on the base schematic. "It has to go through here." He said, pointing to a large oblong space. "What's there?"

"Weapons testing." Goddard replied.

"Get everybody with weapons training down there." The Doctor said. "The technicians, the lawyers, everyone. If all of them have a gun, you might just be able to stop it."

* * *

The Dalek rarely moved at more than 8 miles an hour, but it never tired either. The guards were barely slowing it as it advanced. The narrow corridors meant that only a handful at a time could engage it, which the Dalek could easily blast aside. Though Rose, Adam and Demagio were running like mad, they could not get far ahead.

Demagio hammered on a button. "The lifts are out." She said. "We'll have to use the stairs."

"Stairs!" Cried Rose. "That's more like it! It's got no legs, it'll be trapped!"

From round the corner, they heard a scream as yet another guard was exterminated.

"Well come on then!" Shouted Adam.

The three of them charged through a door and up the first two flights of the stairwell. Demagio stopped them at this point and pointed her gun downwards.

Below them, the Dalek pushed its way through the door. Its eyestalk trailed over the staircase before it, then looked up at the group. It tried to aim its gun but couldn't get the right angle from where it was.

"Big alien killing machine, defeated by a flight of stairs!" Adam taunted.

"Now listen to me." Said Demagio. "I demand that you return to your cell. If you want to negotiate, then I'm sure Mr Van Statten will be reasonable. I accept that we imprisoned you, and maybe that was wrong. But people have died. And that has to stop now!"

The Dalek paused for a moment. "ELEVATE." It said.

Dust swirled around the Dalek's base as it raised itself to hover above the ground. It floated forwards and drifted over the first step, then the next. It travelled steadily upwards, moving along the slope of the staircase.

"Adam, take her and get out." Said Demagio, taking aim.

Rose grabbed her arm. "Come with us, you can't stop it."

"Someone's got to try." She replied. "Now run!" She practically threw them up the next flight of stairs.

Below her, the Dalek had reached the corner and was turning to elevate up towards her. She promptly emptied her magazine onto it, doing very little damage.

Rose and Adam had barely reached level 51 before they heard her scream.

* * *

Van Statten was pacing his office. "You're supposed to be the big alien expert. You should be able to negotiate with this Dalek. There must be something it wants. Everything needs something."

"What's the nearest city?" Said the Doctor, without looking up.

"Salt Lake City."

"Population?"

"One million."

"All dead."

"But why would it do that?" Shouted Van Statten.

The Doctor looked up. "Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing. And you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!"

"Hey!" Roared Van Statten. "I wasn't the one who stirred up its wish to escape! I wasn't the one who put his hand on it when I'd been told not to!"

"You've had this thing for years, but you never thought to consult the UNIT files to see if it was dangerous! You never even put a proper lock on its door!" The Doctor roared back.

"Guys!" Shouted Goddard. "The Dalek's approaching the firing range."

* * *

"Fifty or so guards were gathering in the range, taking positions behind crates, and giving the civilians a quick instruction on how to use the handguns.

"The Dalek's surrounded by a force field." The Doctor said through the captain's earpiece. "But it's not indestructible. You've just got to concentrate your fire. Aim for the dome, the eyepiece. That's its weak spot."

"Thanks Doctor, but I think I know how to defeat one tin robot." Said the captain. "Positions!" He shouted, as the stream of refugees from the lower levels began to tail off.

Rose and Adam were bringing up the rear. Despite everything, the Dalek was still right behind them. They raced across the room and through the far door. Once there, Rose got the sudden urge to pause and look back. Their pursuer was rounding the coroner at the end of the room. Its eyestalk swept round, before settling on her briefly.

Adam grabbed the girl and dragged her aside.

"It was looking at me." She said.

"So? It's just an eyestalk, it was probably just looking around." Said Adam.

"But it was looking right at me!"

"Maybe that's because it was deciding whether to kill you."

"Dunno, just, sort of, got this feeling..."

The captain watched as the cyborg drifted forward, straight past some of his mens' positions. They adjusted themselves accordingly. "Wait for my signal." He called to them. He waited until the Dalek would be in a position where they could fire at it from all sides. "On my mark." The Dalek was right where he needed it now.

"Fire!" He roared, loosing off the first round. Guards all around the room followed suit. The civilians cowered from the noise briefly, then joined the firing.

The Dalek surveyed the room. All around it, 60 or so humans were firing from barricades. Up above, 30 more had taken positions on a catwalk, overlooking the room.

* * *

"We've got vision!" Cried Goddard, looking at one of the security screens.

"It wants us to see." The Doctor said.

* * *

"ELEVATE." The Dalek said again. It rose up and up, until it was twenty feet off the ground.

The guard captain was confused, why hadn't it returned fire yet? But he felt little reason to complain, not when he could see the storm of bullets penetrating closer to the Dalek shell with so much power going into flying.

The creature fired. The civilians flinched, but the shot missed them and hit the fire alarm button. The sprinklers activated and it began to rain in the room. Confused, they kept on firing. Even now their bullets seemed to be having no effect, but there's only so much power a force field can absorb. At least they hoped.

With several millimetres of water flooding the concrete floor. The Dalek finally shot one of the guards.

As the same bright flash engulfed the man, massive bolts of electricity shot out from him and spread through the water to everyone on the floor, lighting up everyone there. A whole crowd screamed in agony before falling silent.

"All men fall back!" The captain shouted from the catwalk. But too late.

The Dalek shot again, this time hitting the captain and lighting up the catwalk with electricity. Not a man survived.

* * *

The image cut out. Van Statten stood stunned for a few moments. Up to now he'd somehow assumed that the Doctor was exaggerating. He'd never seen it in combat. He'd never thought it could be capable of anything like this.

"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy." He said as calmly as he could. "Evacuate the base."

"There's no power to the helipad." Goddard sighed .

"You said it could be sealed in." The Doctor said, desperately trying not to think about the people he'd sent to their deaths.

"The base was designed to be used as a bunker, in the event of nuclear war." Said Van Statten. "If we shut the doors, and lock them., It'll hold the Dalek, at least long enough for us to find some heavy explosives."

"But there's no power." Goddard repeated.

"There's emergency power." Said the Doctor. "It can be re-routed."

"But the Dalek scrambled all the codes, we'd need to bypass security. It would take a genius!"

"Well, good thing you've got me." Said Van Statten.

"You're going to help us then?" Said the Doctor

"I don't want to die, Doctor. And no-one knows the system better than me."

But Goddard wasn't listening. "Doctor." She said, gesturing to the screen,, where the Dalek's image had come back on.

"I WILL SPEAK ONLY WITH THE DOCTOR." It roared.

The Doctor was seething with hatred. He thought hard for something to say. Anything to hurt the Dalek with. "You're gonna get rusty." Was all he could manage.

"I HAVE EXTRAPOLATED THE DNA OF ROSE TYLER." The Dalek replied. "FEEDING OFF THE BIOMASS OF A TIME TRAVELER REGENERATED ME."

"And what's your next trick."

"I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR THE DALEKS."

"Yeah, I saw. Downloading the internet. What did you find?"

"I SCANNED YOUR SATELITES AND RADIO TETESCOPES."

"And?"

The Dalek paused. "NOTHING. WHERE SHAL I GET MY ORDERS NOW?"

The Doctor shook his head. "You're just a soldier without commands."

"THEN I SHALL FOLLOW THE PRIMARY DALEK INSTINCT TO DESTROY. TO CONQUER!"

"What for?" Shouted the Doctor. "What's the point?"

The Dalek didn't respond.

"Don't you see? It's all gone. Everything you were. Everything you stood for."

"THEN WHAT SHOULD I DO?"

"Alright then. You want orders, follow this one... Kill yourself."

"THE DALEKS MUST SURVIVE!"

"The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job? Rid the universe of your filth! WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE?"

The Dalek was silent for a moment. "YOU WOULD MAKE A GOOD DALEK." It said.

The Doctor switched off the link. "How long 'till we can close the bulkheads?"

"I'm drawing power from the ground defences, feeding it into the bulkheads." Van Statten replied. "It's been years since I had to work this fast."

"Doctor." Goddard said carefully. "Rose is still down there."

* * *

The amount of running Rose had had to do that day was practically tearing her chest apart. As she struggled up another flight of stairs, her phone rang.

She answered it. "This isn't the best time., Doctor."

"Rose, where are you." The Doctor said.

"Level 47." She gasped.

"You need to get a move on. The bulkhead's being sealed, up on level 44."

"Can't you stop it?"

"I'm the one that's closing them. Now run!"

Rose glanced downwards. The Dalek was rising up the stairwell after them. Rose quickened her pace. She was sure she'd be fitter after she left the TARDIS. That is, if the alien killing machine didn't stop her.

* * *

"I've done it, I've re-routed the power." Said Van Statten. "But the system's weak." He hammered furiously on some keys. "It's all going to crash if you don't activate it now."

"We're almost there, give us a few more seconds!" Rose shouted.

The Doctor starred at the schematic readout. Already, it was starting to falter.

"I'm sorry." He said, and hit enter.

Alarms blared out it the corridor and Rose and Adam watched in horror as the bulkhead ahead of them began to descend. Using what strength they had, they quickened their pace. Thirty metres, it was at shoulder height. Twenty metres, it was down to chest height. Ten metres and it was down to hip height.

Adam, who was the faster runner, reached it first. The door was at knee height now. A hasty duck and roll was all he could do to get through.

The Doctor watched as the computer readout faded to black. It had just had time to tell him that the door was shut.

"Rose!" He cried. "Did you make it?"

Rose's voice sounded strained, on the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry Doctor." She sobbed. "I wasn't quite fast enough. Goodbye Doctor... It wasn't your fault. Remember that. It wasn't your fault. And you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"EXTERMINATE!" The Dalek's voice echoed through the phone, followed by a zap and a scream.


	4. The Final Survivors

**Chapter 4: The Final Survivors.**

"I killed her." The Doctor gasped.

"I'm sorry." Said Van Statten.

The Doctor wheeled round on the American. "I promised to protect her. She's only here 'cos of me. And you say you're sorry? I could have killed that Dalek in its cell. You stopped me!"

"It was the prize of my collection!" Van Statten cried.

"COLLECTION? WAS IT WORTH IT? WORTH ALL THOSE MENS' DEATHS? WORTH ROSE?" The Doctor roared. "Let me tell you something! Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater!"

"Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!"

"You just want to drag the stars down here! Underneath tons of concrete! And sand! And dirt! And slap a price tag on 'em! You're about as far from the stars as you can get!" He took a breath, staring at the table. "And you took her down with you. She was 19 years old."

In all the time she'd known Van Statten, Goddard didn't think she'd seen him so shaken.

* * *

Rose had screwed her eyes up in anticipation. It took a few seconds after the Dalek had fired to realise that she was still alive.

Very slowly, she opened her eyes. The Dalek was stood before her, staring motionless at her. She looked back at the wall, where a small hole was burning in the concrete.

"What are you waiting for?" She shouted at the Dalek.

"I AM ARMED. I WILL KILL YOU." It said, but never fired its weapon.

Rose decided to take this inactivity as a chance to shout at it. "Those people are dead because of you!"

"THEY ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF US!"

Rose was now trembling with horror as well as fear. "And now what, you're gonna kill me?"

"I FEEL YOUR FEAR."

"What do you expect?"

The Dalek shook all over. "DALEKS DO NOT FEAR! MUST NOT FEAR!" It fired, blasting another hole in the concrete. It fired again, striking the door a foot to the right of the girl. Somehow, it was having trouble killing her. That, at least was a good thing.

"YOU GAVE ME LIFE! WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GIVEN ME? I AM CONTAMINATED!"

* * *

Adam had thought that a man who's just had a brush with death might be welcomed back with relief. Instead, the moment the lift doors opened, he was met by a furious Doctor.

"You were quick on your feet!" He shouted.

"I wasn't the one who sealed the vault!" Adam shouted back.

Their argument was interrupted as the Dalek suddenly appeared on the security screen. "OPEN THE VAULT OR ROSE TYLER DIES." The Doctor looked over. Rose was stood in front of it, staying in its line of fire as instructed.

"Rose!" He could not remember when he'd last felt so relieved. "You're alive!"

"OPEN THE DOOR!" The Dalek repeated.

"Don't do it!" Rose shouted.

The Dalek moved forward so it could jam its gun in her back. "WHAT USE ARE EMOTIONS IF YOU CAN'T SAVE THE WOMAN YOU LOVE?" It said.

The Doctor gulped. He looked over to the others for an opinion. But none of them seemed brave enough to cross him when Rose Tyler was involved. This was his decision alone.

He looked down at the computer. The Dalek had restored power to the section, though it seemed unable to open the bulkhead. "I killed her once." He said finally. "I can't do it again." He hit a button and the door came open.

* * *

"MOVE!" Shouted The Dalek.

Rose moved in front of it. She had no hope of getting away so she tried to keep close to the Dalek.

Having seen this creature manipulate its way out of its cell and kill 200 people in its rampage, she had reason to be afraid of her position. She couldn't be certain whether this Dalek was keeping her alive because of contamination or because it hoped she'd be useful later. She could only hope that this contamination would deepen, and quickly.

* * *

Van Statten had regained his composure. "Great! You bleeding heart! Now what're we gonna do?" He roared.

"Kill it when it gets here!" Piped up Adam.

"Our guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault." Said Goddard.

"Only the catalogued ones." Said Adam.

* * *

In his workshop, Adam pulled a large steel bin from a cupboard. Within, a variety of alien weapons had been piled, in various shapes and sizes.

The Doctor picked up a large silvery weapon, with glowing blue lights running along it. He promptly tossed it over his shoulder. "Broken." He said. Horrified, Adam went to pick it up and inspect for dents. He was forced to duck back as the Doctor threw another weapon aside to join the first declaring it broken too. He decided not to confront the time lord.

"Mr Van Statten wipes all his staff's memories when they leave." Adam started to explain.

"Hairdryer." Said the Doctor, tossing another device aside.

"I kept these here in case I ever needed to, you know, fight my way out." Adam continued.

The Doctor turned a circular device over in his hands. "What, you in a fight?"

"I could you know!"

"What're you gonna do, chuck your A levels at them?" He set the circular device aside, deeming it too week. Looking back into the bin, he grinned in delight. He picked up a large device, resembling a space-age bazooka. It could smash a hole in the Hoover Dam if set to maximum power. Even half power, would smash the Dalek to bits, and bring an end to the filth of the universe.

* * *

Rose stood in the lift, watching as the numbers counted down to zero. Next to her, the Dalek was twitching. Somehow, the cold metallic shell was showing feelings of indecisiveness. She'd been nervous to talk to it up to this point in case she provoked it, but now she sensed a chance. "You don't have to kill them. You didn't kill me."

"BUT WHY?" Said the Dalek. "WHY ARE YOU ALIVE?"

Rose thought it best not to answer.

* * *

Van Statten was stood by the lift door with a gun, trying to adopt a dramatic pose. But even as he'd taken position, he'd started to tremble. As the numbers counted down, he began to shake and hints of terror worked their way over his previously unmoving facade.

As the doors opened, fright got the better of him. He dropped the gun and scrambled backwards.

"Don't do anything!" Shouted Rose. "It's starting to question itself."

"VAN STATTEN, YOU TORTURED ME! WHY?"

"I-I don't know" He stammered. "I thought, if we could get through to you, if we could find out about you, if we could mend you, I just wanted make you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I just wanted you to talk!"

"THEN HEAR ME TALK NOW! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

"Don't do it, don't kill him!" Cried Rose.

The Dalek's eyestalk swung round to look at her.

"You don't have to do this anymore." She pleaded. "There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there?"

The Dalek looked at the woman who was offering hope. It swung round to look at the man who had brought it incredible pain. It swung round again to look at Rose.

"I WANT FREEDOM." It said finally.

* * *

The humans were still unable to open the helipad doors. The Dalek decided to ignore them and glided into the hanger, with Rose close behind.

It blasted a hole in the concrete wall and a narrow shaft of sunlight flooded down to shine upon its eyestalk.

"You're out, you made it." Said Rose. "I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again."

"HOW DOES IT FEEL?" Said the Dalek. A whole variety of confusing feelings were flowing through it. It got the feeling that a direct look would provide a clearer picture.

Rose heard a series of clicks and whirs from within the Dalek. Seconds later, several whole sections of its casing hinged and swivelled away, revealing the Dalek creature itself, wired into its life support system.

The creature was by all accounts, a hideous, slimy thing, with a brain almost spilling from its head. A dozen or so tentacles were wrapped round one control or another. Nonetheless, Rose couldn't help feeling sorry for this poor mutilated creature, which had gone all its life able to feel nothing but hatred for everything around it. Hatred even for its own existence. And only now could it feel something more. The creature's single eye looked almost sad as it gazed up at a light it had never seen before.

"Out of the way!" Roared the Doctor. She spun round to see him brandishing a gun at the two of them, shaking with hatred for the Dalek. "Rose, get out the way now!"

"No. 'cos I won't let you do this." She said.

"Rose, that thing killed hundreds of people!" He shouted.

"It's not the one pointing the gun at me."

"Rose, I have to do this. Or my people, for what they died for!"

"But look at it!" She stood aside.

The Doctor looked at the little creature as it looked sadly up at the sun.

"What's it doing?" He said.

"Gazing at the sunlight."

"But it can't..."

"It couldn't kill Van Statten. It couldn't kill me 'cos its changing. What about you, Doctor? What're you changing into?"

The Doctor looked at the sad, pathetic creature before him. He looked down at the massive gun he was holding, and promptly threw it on the floor. "I couldn't... I wasn't... Oh Rose. They're all dead."

"Why do we... survive?" Groaned The Dalek.

"I don't know." He replied.

"I am the... last of the... Daleks."

"You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're changing."

"Into... what?"

"... Something new."

"Isn't that better?" Said Rose.

"Not for a Dalek."

"I can... feel. So many... ideas. So... much darkness. Rose... give me orders! Order me to, die."

Rose looked back and forth. Even the Doctor was unsure how to respond. "I can't." She said.

"This is not life." It insisted. "This is... sickness. I shall not be like you! Order my destruction! Obey! Obey!"

"Do it." She said at last.

"Are... you frightened... Rose... Tyler?" It said.

"Yeah."

"Exxxtterrmiiiinaatte!" It said, triumphantly.

Rose got the sense that she should move away from it. She rushed over to by the Doctor and watched as the casing closed itself up. The Dalek had activated its self-destruct. It hovered off the ground. The globes on its skirts detached from its body and flew out to form a sphere around it, glowing with energy. Finally with a loud blast, the creature imploded, leaving nothing but dust.

* * *

Goddard nodded to the soldiers stood behind Van Statten. Two of them grabbed him and dragged him away.

"What are you doing!" He demanded.

"200 personnel dead and all because of you, sir." She replied. "Take him away and wipe his memory."

"You can't do this to me! I'm Henry Van Statten!"

"And by tonight, Henry Van Statten will be a brainless guy living on the streets of San Fransisco. San Diago? Sacremento?" She turned away. "Somewhere beginning with s."

* * *

The Doctor placed his hand, sadly, on the TARDIS. "Little piece of home. Better than nothing."

"Is that it then?" Rose said consolingly. "The end of the time war."

"Yeah." Said the Doctor. "I win."

"The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too."

"I'd know." He tapped his temple. "In here. Feels like there's no-one."

"Well. Good thing I'm not going anywhere."

Adam came running up. "They're closing down the base. Van Statten's disappeared. Goddard says they're filling this place full of cement, like it never excised." He sighed. "I guess I'll have to go home."

"Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 1500 hours." Said the Doctor.

"Adam was saying he wanted to see the stars." Said Rose.

Catching Rose's implication, the Doctor looked the man up and down and shrugged. "Tell him to go stand outside."

"He's all on his own. And he did help us." She said.

"He left you down there."

"So did you."

Adam was confused. "What are you two talking about, we have to go!"

"This wouldn't be because he's pretty?" Said the Doctor.

"Hadn't noticed." She replied.

"On your own head." He sighed.

Adam watched, curious, as the two of them stepped into a Police Box by the wall.

"She wasn't joking about that concrete you know. We're gonna get sealed in! Doctor! Rose?"

He peeked in through the door. Thinking it led into another room, he followed them in. Just as the TARDIS engines whirred into life.

* * *

**Author's notes: Some adjustments here. Most notably, Van Statten making an attempt at a last stand. It baffled me a bit that he appears to be standing by the doors, unarmed, waiting for the Dalek to kill him in the broadcast episode.**

**Next time: The Long Game.**


End file.
